Their Voices
by SilverIcefire
Summary: FerrisWheelShipping. White sets out on her Pokémon adventure just like any other teenage girl. But when she meets N, the boy who can hear the voices of Pokémon and is closer to their hearts than any human, the world starts spinning in a different direction. T for possible language/themes.
1. Beginnings

**AN: Hey there, FanFiction community. Been a while since I've written anything, but I've just recently played through Pokémon Black again for the umpteenth time, and I really gotta get this out of my head and into words**

 **I really loved the storyline of Black/White, but the characters have so much potential that's never really fleshed out in the anime or the manga. So, this is my (slightly) different take on the main story. Also, FerrisWheelShipping. That's all.**

 **Some dialogue is original, a lot is from the game, so I obviously claim no rights to that. There are also some minor deviations from canon, but I'll wrap up any loose ends by the time we make it to the end**

 **Enjoy! Please leave a review!**

 **Chapter 1: Beginnings**

White set the blue box carefully on her side table, making sure to not disturb the immaculately curled green ribbons. She clenched her fists together in excitement, bouncing up and down slightly. Raised on her mother's never-ending stories of her own adventures as a Trainer, White had always dreamed of the day she would get her first Pokémon, a dear friend and partner of her own. Today, on her eighteenth birthday, she would finally get that chance.

She heard the door clicking carefully shut downstairs, and Cheren's voice as her mother warmly greeted White's childhood friend. Pounding footsteps signaled his arrival to her room, as he excitedly pushed up his glasses, which were slipping crookedly down his face. "White! I heard from Professor Juniper. We can have a Pokémon? What's keeping Bianca?"

White smiled. "Slow down, Cheren. She's probably caught up in something with her dad, as usual." Cheren tapped his foot impatiently. At that moment, another set of footsteps echoed up the stairwell, and Bianca entered the room, her trademark green hat sitting just a little bit crookedly on her head

"Am I a little late again? Soooorry…."

Cheren sighed. "Bianca…I've known for ten years that you've got no sense of time, but seriously? Today's the day we can get a Pokémon from the Professor!"

"I know, I know. Sorry, White, Cheren," Bianca muttered. "So, where are they? They were delivered to White's house, so I think White should get to pick first."

"Naturally," Cheren said, as if it had been his idea all along. "The Pokémon are waiting for us inside that gift box. Ok, White, you go first and take a peek. I want to meet the Pokémon right now!"

"Okay," White grinned and stepped up to the box eagerly, pulling at the green ribbon. It slid smoothly off, and the lid slid to the side. There was a letter from Professor Juniper, which she quickly glanced over, then tossed to the side. Inside the box, there were three red-and-white translucent spheres, with three small shapes resting inside them. At the opening of the box, light streamed in, and the small creatures stirred, blinking at the sudden light. There was a small orange pig, which twitched its nose sleepily, and a little blue otter-like Pokémon, which had its paws eagerly pressed against the walls of the pokéball. In the third ball, a small green Pokémon was coiled up, but just stretching itself out, wiggling out its little legs one at a time. It blinked up at White with large, oval, red eyes, and she smiled. "Hello," she said, reaching out and scooping it out of the box. "I'll take this one," she said to her friends.

"Snivy," Cheren nodded approvingly. "Good choice."

"Well, I choose Oshawott!" Bianca said, scurrying up and claiming the otter Pokémon. "And you get this one, Cheren!" She handed him Tepig, who was now wide awake, and wriggling in excitement like its companions.

"And why are YOU choosing my Pokémon?" Cheren grumbled. He took the pokéball from Bianca's outstretched hand. "Oh well. It's not like I didn't want Tepig from the start, anyway."

"So we've all chosen a Pokémon! That's that!" Bianca chirped, holding her pokéball up to her cheek and grinning at the little guy inside.

White cradled Snivy's pokéball in her hands like he was something very precious and fragile. He stared back at her intently, red eyes blinking slowly. A small smile appeared on his face, and he made a little nod.

"Hey, I know! We should have a battle!"

Cheren sighed heavily. "Honestly, Bianca… Do you _want_ to trash White's house?"

"I do," White piped up. "Let's do it!"

She tossed the pokéball lightly up into the air, and Snivy appeared in a flash of red light, turning slowly to take in his surroundings. He twitched his nose, sniffing at her carpet, and wandered around towards her bed. "Hey!" White called, laughing. "Come back here!"

"Go, Oshawott!" Bianca said excitedly, releasing her own Pokémon.

"Tackle!" The little otter eagerly bounced forwards, slamming into White's Pokémon.

"You too, Snivy, Tackle!"

"Leer, Oshawott!"

"Trying to get clever, are you?" White grinned, seeing her chance. "Snivy, go!" With one final Tackle, Snivy bonked Oshawott on the head and the little otter slumped to the ground in a faint.

"Eek!" Bianca squealed, quickly recalling him. "Well…the Pokémon on both sides did their best!"

Cheren sighed again. "Would you take a look around?"

White stifled a snort as she looked at the tipped over desks and footprints on the walls and even ceiling. "Woooooooow!" Bianca exclaimed. "Pokémon are a-ma-zing! So little, but so strong! Sorry about your room, White. Hey, Cheren, since its already a mess, why don't you have a go?"

White easily beat Cheren as well, with Snivy neatly dodging Tepig's stumbling advances and retaliating each miss with a head-on blow.

"Ah," Cheren said, pushing his glasses up. "So that's a Pokémon battle. Well done, White."

"Yeah, White! I think you've got the marks to be an a-ma-zing Trainer someday."

"We'd better go apologize to your mom for this messed-up room…" Cheren muttered.

"You guys head down," White said, "I'll be right there." As her friends descended the stairs, she stooped down and held a hand out to Snivy. "C'mere, you," she said softly. Snivy scuttled up to her, limping slightly. She scooped him up into her arms, rubbing his little yellow belly. "Great job out there," she said.

"Snii!" Snivy cried out, a happy expression on his face.

"Go rest up, okay?" White said, holding out the pokéball and pressing the button, returning her friend. She smiled and grabbed her cap, a birthday present from her mom, and slipped it onto her head, pulling her long brown hair through the back ponytail hole, grabbed her bag, and clipped Snivy's pokéball to her belt. She gave herself a small, secret smile, and headed downstairs.


	2. Meetings

**Yay! My first review and follower for this story! Thanks, Darkford! :)**

 **It's blizzarding outside and I have nothing better to do than write fanfiction and try in vain to catch a Rufflet in Alpha Sapphire...my mirage islands refuse to show up.**

 **Merry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate it!**

 **Chapter 2: Meetings**

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon... and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention." Ghetsis nodded sagely at the conclusion of his speech, and the Plasma Grunts around him scuttled around, picking up the banners and forming up as they all marched off.

The crowd's dissenting murmurs faded out as they dispersed, leaving N standing alone. He looked around the concrete courtyard, and noted that he was, in fact, not entirely alone, but across from a boy with glasses and a brown-haired girl. He pulled his black-and-white cap down over his face a little further, a small frown on his expression. _Father's ever-so-riveting speech fails, once again, to garner support for Team Plasma…_ He thought to himself. His ear twitched. What was that?

 _Don't worry. Of course I'd want to stay with you. Oh. You're not listening, are you? Pay attention to me, not Cheren!_

A tiny voice of a Pokémon floated over to him from across the plaza. He looked in the direction it came from, and saw the pair he had noted just a second earlier. He frowned again. _I never thought I'd hear a Pokémon say such things..._ He looked down at his well-worn shoes, debating whether or not to leap the hurdle of interacting with other humans to pursue his curiosity. Eventually, curiosity overcame aversion, and he drew a deep breath, then headed over towards them.

"Your Pokémon…just now, it was saying…" he stared intently at the lone pokéball on the girl's waist, where a Snivy sat, tapping lightly on the wall. It noticed him and turned around, tipping its head to the side.

 _Who are you?_ it asked, deep red eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Slow down," the boy said, furrowing his brow. "You talk too fast. And what's this about Pokémon…talking? That's an odd thing to say."

"Yes, they're talking—oh. I guess that means you two can't hear it either. How sad…my name is N." He looked intently at the girl, who was staring back at him with scrutinous, wide blue eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but the boy cut in first.

"My name is Cheren, and this is White. We just set out on our journey to complete the Pokédex. My main goal is to become the Champion, though." N's finger twitched nervously, and he reached for the cube puzzle he wore at his waist, struggling to maintain his cool composure. _The Champion…that makes us rivals._

"The Pokédex, eh? So…you're going to confine many, many Pokémon in pokéballs for that. I'm a Trainer, too, but I can't help but wonder, are Pokémon really happy like that?"

"They're happy as long as they're with a Trainer they can trust," the girl said. He looked at her in surprise, studying her more closely. Her cap shaded her face and her luminescent eyes, but he could see that she was quite attractive. Her long brown hair hung down from her cap, framing her face on either side, and streamed out the back in a big, fluffy ponytail, with many flyaways.

"White, was it?" N asked, realizing he had been staring for too long. "Let me see your Pokémon again. This Snivy—"

"Sylph," she interjected, "his name is Sylph."

"Sylph," N said, smiling graciously. "Let me hear his voice again."

She cast him an uncertain glance, then pulled the pokéball from her hip and tossed it into the air, releasing the Snivy. It glared at N. _Stop scrutinizing my White_ _._ N smiled and released his own Purrloin, taking several steps back to give the Pokémon some space.

"Sylph, Vine Whip!" A long vine extended from Snivy's back, coiling around Purrloin's foreleg and pulling hard, knocking it to the ground. Purrloin cried out.

N pulled at the rim of his cap and recalled Purrloin quickly, the sound of its pained cry causing an ache in his chest.

White looked up in surprise. "You haven't even issued a single command?" Her Snivy let out a tiny growl, meant to be menacing but rather cute in actuality. N gave another sorrowful smile.

"This is what Pokémon battles are….my friends getting hurt. As long as Pokémon are confined to pokéballs, they cannot become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon…because they're my friends."

He turned and strode away, hearing Cheren mutter behind him, "What a strange guy…" N frowned. He did not like this "Cheren" character, and he was slow to pass judgment on people, since he knew very little about other human beings, compared to his close relationship with his Pokémon.

N continued down the main road until he came to a little garden, filled with small hedges and lines with a man-made moat with several bridges crossing it. People milled about, tending to the flowers and just enjoying the serenity of the scene. He released his Purrloin again, and the little cat licked at its wounded leg, miaowing in upset noises. He stooped down next to it and sat down in the grass. "I know," N said softly, stroking the tufts of fur on its cheeks. "I'm sorry, my friend. It'll be okay."

Purrloin huffed and jumped into N's lap, curling up in the cross of his legs. "Someday, there will be a world where people no longer see themselves as superior to Pokémon. We shall be equals, and there will be no more fighting, no more pain…" Purrloin looked up at him and tipped her head to the side.

 _When?_ She asked.

N smiled softly. "I'm working on that."

* * *

"Thank you so much, once again," White said graciously, handing the pokéball back to the boy. "Panpour was a huge help in the Gym challenge."

"Snii!" Sylph smiled and bobbled his head in agreement. White looked down at the little green Pokémon and stooped down, scooping him up in her arms. After visiting the Pokémon Center following the gym battle, she had let Sylph walk by her side instead of being in his pokéball. _I swear it has nothing to do with that weird guy,_ she said to herself. Sylph blinked his warm red eyes up at her happily, and snuggled his head against her chest.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep him?" The boy asked, looking at his Panpour. "He seems to have had a lot of fun with you and your Snivy." White shook her head.

"That's because he's never really done much battling and training. Take him out a little more—the wild Pokémon on Route 2 aren't much of a match for him, but it's nice for him to get some exercise from time to time, even if you're not really a Trainer."

"Yeah…" the little boy looked down. Panpour was staring at him intently through the pokéball. "My brothers are the ones who train. Cress gave this Panpour to me for my thirteenth birthday, hoping that I would become a Trainer, but I really just want to sit at home and read. Panpour always wants to play, though."

White smiled. "Growing up is about finding balance. As the brother of a family of gym leaders, I'm sure the expectations are very high for you, but you also have to stay true to what you believe in and what you want to do with yourself. Spend some time on your own—but make time for Panpour, too."

The boy looked at her and nodded slowly. "I see…thank you, miss. I'll take good care of my Panpour, don't worry." Sylph churred in approval, and White turned away, towards the Dreamyard.

There was a small tree standing in her way, blocking the gate to the compound. "Sylph, use Cut!" The Snivy leapt from her arms and slashed at the tree with his tail, and it toppled over with a soft thump. "Great job, Sylph." He scrambled back up her leg, over her Bag, and onto her shoulder with a satisfied sound.

"Oh! White!"

A voice came from behind her. She turned to see Bianca trotting down the road from the city, waving her arms at White. "Hey, Bianca."

"Are you looking for the mystical Pokémon, too?"

"I was just exploring, to be completely honest. Mystical Pokémon? Sounds like a load of—"

"Shhh! Hey! Did you hear that?"

White frowned. "What?"

"Some kind of sound from behind the wall!"

 _Muuuu!_

They both turned towards the sound of the noise, and ran through the archway into the compound. Levitating above the stone floor, at the center of the courtyard, was a small pink-and-purple Pokémon. At the sight of them, it started to back away.

"Ah! Wait up!" Bianca called, stepping forwards.

Just then, two figures in grey hooded uniforms stepped out from behind the plaster walls. "We've found you, Munna!" One chuckled. They surrounded the Pokémon, standing on either side of it. Munna looked left and right in alarm. _Muuun?_ "Spit out that Dream Mist!" the figure on the left took a step back and swung his leg at the Pokémon, hitting it square with a kick. _Mu…un…._ It cried out weakly.

Bianca shuffled her feet. "Are you kicking it just so it'll give you Dream Mist?! That's mean! Don't you care about Pokémon too?"

"Of course! We're Trainers, too! But unlike you, we fight for the liberation of Pokémon!"

 _Liberation of Pokémon…_ White flashed back to the speech in the plaza. The scene was interrupted by the enigmatic green-haired boy, his crooked smile and dark grey eyes burning intently into her memory. She shook herself, bringing her attention back to the present, where the two men were still roughly shoving Munna around.

"Stop that!" Bianca said, clenching her fists. "You're hurting it!"

"What's that, brat? Shall we liberate your Pokémon?" The man grinned, and sent out a Patrat.

"Eek! White, help!"

"Plassmaaaaa…..Th-the dream! I can't believe we both lost!"

White smirked. Sylph cried out triumphantly, thrashing his little tail back and forth.

One Plasma grunt looked urgently at the other. "We still have to get the Dream Mist!" He swung his fist at the Munna again. "Come on, you!"

"Stop it!" Bianca screamed.

"What is the meaning of this?" A new voice made them all turn to its source. Standing by the wall was a green-haired man with a red eye, clad in a strange cloak. "Our mission is to liberate Pokémon…What are you fools doing?" suddenly, his voice was coming from the opposite side of the compound. They turned and saw Ghetsis standing there as well.

"W-What's going on?" Grunt #1 said, terrified. "This isn't Ghetsis when he's making a plan…or delivering a speech…this is…Ghetsis when he's about to deliver punishment!

"Yeah…" the other one stuttered, "We'd better go offer an apology, quick!" The two scuttled off out of the back exit of the compound, disappearing into the trees. As they left White and Bianca's line of sight, Ghetsis disappeared into thin air.

"!" Bianca exclaimed. "What was that, just now?"

"He was in two places at once…" White mused, scratching Sylph's belly absentmindedly, "It must have been a dream induced by—"

 _Muuush?_

Another Pokémon, larger and more purple, with a pink plume came out from behind the wall. White pulled out her Pokédex. "Musharna? That's the evolved form of Munna…it must be the one behind the dream sequence. It saw that Munna was in trouble, and came to help."

 _Muuuuuush. Muush?_

 _Muun!_

"They're talking!" Bianca exclaimed. White once again recalled the strange green haired boy. The one who could hear their voices. She had a strange feeling that they would meet again soon.

As the two girls observed the Pokémon, they nodded to each other and slipped off, leaving an item behind. "That must be the Dream Mist those Plasma people and Fennel were looking for."

"Are you going to head back to the lab to give it to Fennel?"

White shook her head. "I'm headed to Nacrene. I'll see you there?"

Bianca grinned. "First, I'm gonna catch that Pokémon we just saw! Then I'll head over to check in with Fennel. I'll catch up eventually–I've gotta find Cheren, too, and see what he's gotten himself up to."

"Alright," White nodded. "See you later, then."

 **Their first encounter! Please leave a review!**


	3. Skeptics and Skulls

**AN: Hey all, thanks for reading thus far. I just finished my most recent playthrough of** ** _Pokémon Black_** **, and I swear, I cry every time. I think I want to take this story in a different direction than I was originally planning. I plan on the focus being post Black/White storyline, with snippets from Black 2/White 2, but mostly what happens in between and after. Please bear with me!**

 **Here we go:**

 **Chapter 3**

White walked briskly down the main street of Nacrene City, Sylph trotting brightly at her side. They had just defeated Cheren, who had challenged them on the road just outside the city, and her Snivy had evolved into Servine. The pair was now headed towards Nacrene Museum, where she had heard the Gym was located in the back of the museum.

She arrived at the front entrance of the museum, and reached for the door, but it swung open, and a green-haired man bustled out. White reacted quickly, stepping backwards out of his way. "Oh..it's you." He said. "The girl from the plaza…White."

"And you're N," White recalled, heart beating furiously from their near-collision. They stood in awkward silence for a moment after that, staring at one another.

"I've never seen eyes as blue as yours," N commented casually, as if he was just pointing out a mere fact.

White blushed. "Um…thank you, I think." She looked deeply into his eyes, which were not as grey as they had originally appeared, but rather a deep olive green.

"Where's that other boy you were with? Cheren, was it?"

"I don't know. Somewhere behind me, I suppose."

N studied her carefully. His mouth turned upwards slightly in one corner, in a crooked smile. "What is your relationship with him?"

The question caught White off-guard. "W-well…" she stuttered. "He _was_ my boyfriend. We dated for a while in school. It didn't work out. He's too terse for me. Wait, why are you asking me this?" _Why am I being so open with him?_ She asked herself. Sylph nudged her hand questioningly, apparently wondering the same thing. She looked down and scratched the top of his head.

"I don't know. I'm curious about you. You interest me," N said. "What's a boyfriend?"

White stared at him incredulously. "You're joking, right? You must be at least sixteen, seventeen—"

"I'm nineteen," N said, frowning. "Why does that matter?"

 _He's older than me…he looks so young._ "How do you not know—"

"When I was a boy, I had no parents. I was left in the woods. Pokémon raised me. My adoptive father was the first human I knew…and even so, ever since then, I've spent most of my time with Pokémon, and little time with humans. So please, humor me."

White was taken aback by his sudden sincerity, and suddenly didn't feel like she wasn't the one being superfluously open anymore. "A boyfriend is…someone who is significant to you, romantically. Hopefully someone you love or at least care about deeply, and trust a lot. The trust thing is where Cheren and I fell apart, if we're being honest here."

N nodded slowly. "I see. I wonder what love feels like."

"It's like…" White paused. "It's like how you feel towards your closest friends." She nodded towards the pokéballs at his waist.

"I want to see things no one else can see," N said, stepping forwards so that he was very close to her. She had to look up at him. "The truths of Pokémon confined to pokéballs. The ideals of how Trainers should be. A future where Pokémon can become the perfect beings that they were created to be without human interference…do you feel the same?"

"Well," White tipped her chin to the side slightly, thinking. "I don't know about anything being 'perfect' beings. But I certainly think that people have much to learn from Pokémon. Their world and ours are very different, even though we inhabit the same one. I want to see the world through their eyes."

"That so? …if my friends were stronger, we would test you to see if you can really see that kind of future. But right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all the Pokémon. Perhaps I can't yet solve the equation that will change the world. So I need power…power enough to make everyone agree with me."

White took a step back. N cast her one last glance and turned away, walking down the road slowly. He continued to himself, "Now I know what power I need…Zekrom. The legendary Pokémon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region. It is now my time to become that hero—and you and I will become friends!"

White watched him disappear down the road, not knowing quite what to think. _So naïve, so clueless…yet what big ideals he has,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

"Sylph, Leaf Tornado!" Servine obeyed, unleashing a flurry of sharp leaves at the opponent's Watchog.

"Watchog, Hypnosis!" The gopher Pokémon emitted a strange pulse, and Sylph's eyes drooped shut.

"Sylph!" White cried. She rummaged through her bag furiously for something that would help. Her hand closed on something triangular and firm—Yes! The Chesto berries that Cheren had given her!

"Retaliate!" Sylph took a hard hit, but when the foe dropped back, White dodged in and shoved one of the little blue berries into her Pokémon's mouth, and the Servine blinked its eyes open sleepily. "C'mon, Sylph, snap to it!" The green Pokémon obediently shook itself, rising back to its feet. "Vine whip!" At a blinding speed, Sylph extended his vines and smacked the Watchog square in the chest, knocking it prone.

"Tackle!"

With a final ram, Sylph knocked the opposing Pokémon out, and gym leader Lenora called her Watchog back to its pokéball. "Very well done," she said with a smile, "Ain't that something. You really are charming, you and your Servine!"

"Thank you, ma'am," White said politely, as Sylph ran back into her arms, urging her to pick him up. She smiled and willingly obliged, giving him a little pat on the head.

"You're just the right kind of Trainer that I like to give the Basic badge to," Lenora said proudly, producing one of the shining pins from her pocket and handing it to the girl. White took it with a small bow, and putting Sylph down, she reached into her bag for the badge case that her mother had given her, clicking the Basic badge into the first slot. She gave it a little rub until it shone brightly, then smiled to herself, clicking the case shut and tucking it away.

"HOOOOONEEYYYYYYYY!" The two women jumped at the sound of a man screaming and footsteps pounding down the stairs to the gym leader's room beneath the library. It was Hawes, the museum curator that White had met earlier who had shown her through museum to the gym. "Honey!" He exclaimed, cluching at his wife's hands. Lenora gave him a strange look. "This is bad! This is really, really bad! Team Plasma was all, 'We're taking this skull,' and—"

"What do you mean?" Lenora exclaimed. She hustled up the stairs as quickly as her large frame could carry her. "You, come too!" she called over her shoulder to White.

When the three arrived in the main hall of the museum, the entire room was filled with smoke. "Hold up now," Lenora shouted, "Whoever it is, stop fooling around!"

"You came, gym leader," said a voice from the smoke. A Plasma grunt, clad in the characteristic uniform, stepped into view. "We're taking the Dragon Skull for the Plasma cause! Right before your eyes—here it comes!" At that moment, a grenade flew through the smoke and landed at the three's feet. Sylph cried out in warning and pushed at White's legs, but when it exploded there was no shrapnel, only a loud bang and a blinding flash of light. As the effects cleared, and the smoke began to thin, they gasped in surprise to see the skeleton of the ancient Dragon Pokémon headless in the center display.

Lenora stepped forwards slowly, dangerously. "What in the name of…" she took off mid-sentence, bustling out the front doors.

A strangely hipster, artsy-looking man strolled up to them. "Howdy, Miss Lenora. Found anything good today? Hm…Something's off. Some trouble, maybe?"

"Someone just ran off with one of my exhibits, is the trouble!" Lenora huffed. "White! Take a good long look at this man. This is Castelia's gym leader, Burgh."

"Hey, White. Why's everyone clustered up here?" Bianca walked up with Cheren in tow, looking surly as ever.

"What's the problem, White?" Cheren asked formally, clearing his throat.

"What's all this, then? These kids, your friends?" Lenora asked, jerking her chin at Bianca and Cheren in turn.

"Yeah, they're Trainers too. I think Cheren came looking for a gym battle…" White pointed at Cheren, who nodded in agreement.

"But it seems that you're rather preoccupied at the moment, ma'am. Anything we can help with?" Cheren pushed his glasses up.

Lenora nodded vigorously. "Excellent, we'll split up the work. I'll go this way—Burgh, White, you search Pinwheel Forest. Bianca and Cheren, you stay behind and protect the museum!" Without further ado, Lenora hustled off down the road, turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

"All we have to do is protect the museum?" Cheren pulled a pokéball off of his belt. White saw Tepig sitting in it, bouncing eagerly. "Easy enough. Come on, Bianca." Grabbing his friend by the wrist, Cheren towed her into the museum.

"All right then. White? Pinwheel forest is just ahead, this way. If they did indeed run off there, it would be troublesome…" Burgh frowned as the two walked and talked. "There are only two ways out of Pinwheel Forest. There's the straight road, and the winding path through the woods, but even that is only one trail."

"I'll take the woods," White said, nodding to Sylph.

"Can you handle it?" Burgh said, raising an eyebrow. White shot him a withering look.

"Look, judge me after I get the job done or when I'm knocking at the door of your gym asking for a battle. The playing field is equal here, and I'm giving you the easier job. Take it or leave it."

"I do specialize in Bug-type Pokémon," Burgh continued, "Perhaps it would be too dangerous for you to—"

White sighed. "Come on, Sylph." She said, pushing ahead of him, off the road, and onto the well-trodden grass of the winding forest path.

 _Thirty minutes later~_

White crawled through the rotting, mossy log, Sylph scrambling ahead of her, sniffing at the air. As she swung her legs over the opposite end of the log and hopped down, they came to a small grassy clearing, with a one-way ledge on one side. It was surrounded by trees, but sunlight streamed in from the gap in the foliage above. Standing in the center of the clearing, with his back to her, was one final Plasma grunt.

He turned at the sound of her footsteps. "Eh? What's this? My colleagues didn't hold you off? …:It probably doesn't help that I've gotten lost here either."

White scowled at him. "Hand over the Dragon Skull. Your 'colleagues' were not much of a challenge, I doubt you'll be either."

"You twerp," the Grunt growled. "Whatever. I'll be your opponent now! Patrat, go!"

"Sylph, Slam!" White called as the opponent emerged from its pokéball. Before the Patrat even had a chance to gather its bearings, an angry Servine was already charging headlong into its face, knocking it backwards.

"Scratch!" The Patrat swung one of its little arms at Sylph, catching the Servine across the face with its sharp claws. Sylph growled angrily.

"Mega Drain!" White commanded, and Sylph sucked the life out of his opponent, raising his own HP back to full in the process. As the fainted Patrat was called back to its pokéball, Sylph hissed triumphantly.

"P-plasmaaaaaa…." The grunt howled half-heartedly. "The Pokémon can't be saved….whatever! Have your stupid skull back!" He tossed the skull in White's direction, and she barely caught it, fumbling on its large and awkward shape. "Could this mean…" the Grunt was mumbling to himself, "That our hopes, and the king's hopes, are all futile?"

"Pull yourself together!" A new voice snapped, and another figure entered the clearing. It was an older man, clad in robes similar to Ghetsis's, and wearing a cylindrical hat.

"Gorm! S-Sage!" The grunt stuttered.

"Are you alright? Don't forget that you swore your loyalty to our king! …I see you've lost the Skull. No matter. We've found out that it has nothing to do with the Legendary Pokémon anyway." He turned to White, his small, shriveled eyes trained on her. "But we will not overlook this one's meddling…Don't get in our way again, or we'll make you pay for it."

"Ah, White!" Burgh jumped neatly down from the log behind them, and all eyes turned to him. "From the bustling of the bug Pokémon around here, I knew there was some sort of bigshot around. So what are you, the boss of the people we just mopped the floor with?"

"Burgh! White!" Lenora landed much less neatly, landing in a heavy pile on the grass below the log. "The others didn't have jack! Who is this guy?"

Gorm raised himself up tall. "I am Gorm, one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. Ghetsis, the leader of the Sages, is using his eloquence to convince people to release Pokémon, while the rest of us Sages use the Grunts to steal peoples' Pokémon! But this is only a minor and necessary evil…Burgh, the bug-Pokémon master, and Lenora, the normal-Pokémon master…I know you two will fight a thousand battles, so we will retreat gracefully for now. But mark my words…we shall liberate Pokémon!" They took off, rather un-gracefully.

Lenora looked to Burgh. "You're not going to chase after them?"

Burgh shrugged. "We've cornered them and recovered the stolen Skull. There isn't anything else that we can find them guilty of at the moment. I've got to be getting back to my Gym…I'll be waiting for you, White."


End file.
